n Fri, Aug. 25, 2006
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Water heater in fatal carbon monoxide leak improperly installed
Associated Press
OCEAN CITY, Md. - A water heater whose detached vent pipe leaked carbon monoxide in a hotel room, killing a Pennsylvania man and his daughter, was improperly installed, the Ocean City Fire Marshal's Office said in a report.
Patrick Boughter, 40, and his daughter, Kelly Boughter, 10, of Lebanon, Pa., died June 27 at a Days Inn. Boughter's wife, Yvonne, and their 7-year-old daughter, Morgan, were treated at a hospital for carbon monoxide exposure.
Yvonne Boughter had called 911 several times for help after she and her family were sickened.
Thomas Summers, a Baltimore lawyer representing five other people who became ill at the hotel in the same accident, obtained a copy of the fire marshal's report, The (Salisbury) Daily Times reported. Summers said his clients are suffering from lingering sickness and brain damage from the poisoning.
"We have enough for my experts to say this was negligent and they (the hotel) are at fault," Summers told the Daily Times.
The report, written by Fire Marshal's Office staffers, said the manufacturer of the water heater said the vent pipe was not to exceed 85 feet.
Phil Smeall, a boiler inspector for the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, conducted an inspection of the water heater on July 12. "The run was way too long," he said. "I can't tell you exactly how long, but much too long."
Smeall said the length of the vent pipe could have contributed to the pipe supports collapsing and the pipe detaching, The Daily Times reported.
The report also said the water heater used at the Days Inn was listed by the manufacturer for residential use only, and was not be to used in basements or under floor spaces.
The water heater was positioned directly under Room 121, where the Boughters were staying, in the south basement of the oceanfront building, the report said.
A spokesman for the hotel could not be reached for comment.
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